Taking a tough line against VHP leader Praveen Togadia, who is now in Maharashtra, the state government has instructed police not to grant permission for public programmes where he is scheduled to speak. ‘‘A close watch is being kept on his movements in the state,’’ sources said today. In the last few days, police have denied Togadia permission to speak at two programmes, in Mumbai and Pune. The reason cited is it may create a law and order problem. Mumbai police commissioner M.N. Singh confirmed this.Togadia’s movements have come under sharp scrutiny of the Home Department due to the recent spate of riots in the state. Togadia’s tours of Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur is seen as an attempt to grab public attention at a time when the atmosphere is communally-charged.In fact, the Congress-led government even toyed with the idea of banning his entry into Maharashtra, but decided against it. ‘‘The government does not want to show that it is giving too much importance to him,’’ a source said.As such, it has preferred to take a less confrontationist, albeit effective route — not to allow him to speak publicly.However, VHP has denied that it had sought police permission for any public functions to be addressed by Togadia. ‘‘We did not request police to grant any such permission,’’ said Arun Handa, secretary, VHP, Mumbai.Significantly, CM Vilasrao Deshmukh said today that police will take a decision on banning his entry into the state if his programmes become a law and order issue. ‘‘We have asked police to take appropriate action in Togadia’s case,’’ he said after the weekly Cabinet meeting. Sources said that the state has also considered the option of booking Togadia under Section 153 of the IPC if he makes provocative statements during his visits to the state.
